Inflatable, self-supporting sports training aid

ABSTRACT

A training aid is a figure that has an inflatable three-dimensional headless body, an inflatable three-dimensional head, and a way to removably attach the head to the top of the body. The body has a torso, legs terminating in feet, and arms. The feet may be filled with a liquid or a solid particulate material such as water or sand, which is the sole support for the figure.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from Provisional Patent Application No.60/515,281, filed Oct. 28, 2003 by David S. Ross and Ilona G. Ross,titled, “Baseball and Soft-ball Training Aid.”

BACKGROUND OF INVENTION

This invention relates to a training aid for various sports, such as fortraining baseball and softball pitchers. In particular, it relates to aninflatable, self-supporting figure of a batter held upright by means ofweighted feet.

A number of pitching aids have been designed to help a baseball orsoftball pitcher to improve his pitching. These aids are oftentwo-dimensional figures of a batter that are not self-supporting andmust be held in a vertical position by a stake driven into the ground(U.S. Pat. No. 6,350,211) or by means of a horizontal base (U.S. Pat.No. 6,322,461). They may be constructed of hard materials that, whenstruck by a ball, will cause the ball to deflect at unpredictableangles, possibly hitting people who are nearby.

SUMMARY OF INVENTION

We have invented a training aid that is inexpensive, self-supporting,and can easily be transported and stored. The training aid of thisinvention is a three-dimensional inflatable figure made of a soft,pliable material. When it is struck by a ball, it absorbs the kineticenergy of the ball so that the ball drops to the ground a short distanceaway. Water or sand may be placed in the feet of the training aid sothat it stands by itself, without the need to drive a stake into theground or provide a support for it.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a certain presently preferred embodimentof an inflatable batter according to this invention.

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the back of the head of the inflatablebatter shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the bottom of the head of the inflatablebatter shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a perspective view of the arms and bat of the inflatablebatter shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is a perspective view of the feet of the inflatable batter shownin FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view of the top of the shoulders of theinflatable batter shown in FIG. 1, with the head removed.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In FIGS. 1 to 6, inflatable batter 1 (Bullpen Buddy™) is assembled fromtwo parts, head portion 2 and body portion 3. Head portion 2 is athree-dimensional inflatable chamber in the shape of a human head 4 andneck 5. Head portion 2 may be inflated by forcing air into a valve 6(FIGS. 2 and 3). Valve 6 is located at the back of neck 5 (see FIG. 2),but it may also be located at another position on head portion 2. Headportion 2 may be realistically designed with protuberating ears and noseand a narrower neck 5. Head 4 may have a face, hair, and under-eye blacklines printed on it. The base of neck 5 may be flat (see FIG. 3) andhave patch 7 fixed to it. Patch 7 may consist of either exposed fabricor exposed small hooks (sold commercially as Velcro).

An optional cloth baseball cap 8 may be placed on head 4, as shown inFIG. 1, or cap 8 may be part of inflatable head portion 2.

Body portion 3 is three-dimensional and inflatable. Body portion 3 is inthe shape of a human torso with separated legs and separated armsattached. Body portion 3 has five parts: an upper body 9, which ininflated through value 10 (FIG. 1), a lower body 11, which in inflatedthrough valve 12 (FIG. 1), arms and bat 13, which is inflated throughvalve 14 (FIG. 4), and feet 15 and 16, which are inflated through valves17 and 18, respectively (FIG. 5).

Feet 15 and 16 are provided with additional valves 19 and 20,respectively, (FIG. 5) through which a liquid or a solid particulatematerial, such as water or sand, respectively, may be poured into feet15 and 16. The only support for inflatable batter 1 is weighted feet 15and 16. The bottom of feet 15 and 15 is substantially flat, enabling thefigure to stand in a rigid position so that it does not rock back andforth.

Centered at the top of upper body 9 is patch 21 (see FIG. 6), which mayconsist of either fabric or small hooks (sold commercially as Velcro).(If patch 7 is small hooks, then patch 21 is fabric and vice versa.)Head portion 2 may be attached to upper body 9 by pressing patch 7against patch 21 and it may be removed from upper body 9 by simplypulling it off. Head portion 2 is preferably attachable turned in anyposition relative to body portion 3, and it is particularly preferablythat it is attachable turned in either a left-facing position or aright-facing position so that it faces left for a right-handed batter orright for a left-handed batter. Head portion 2 may be attached to body 3by any means that will permit it to be repeatedly removed andre-attached. While Velcro is the preferred means, snaps, latches, ties,and other means may also be used.

Inflatable batter 1 is preferably in the form of an adult male batter,who is wearing a replica of a professional, college, high school teambaseball or softball uniform. The uniform may have the colors and styleof a particular team or it may be a generic uniform. Preferably, thebatter is holding the bat in a ready position, as shown in FIG. 1,though he could also be holding it in another position, such as aswinging position. The adult inflatable batter is preferably about 5½ toabout 6½ feet tall. A smaller size for children is preferably about 4 toabout 5 feet tall. A children's inflatable batter may be in the form ofa child, a cartoon character, professional sports figure, or anotherform that may appeal to children. The face may be designed in thelikeness of a professional athlete. The inflatable figure may also be inthe form of a player of other sports. For example, the figure may be asoccer goalie or a hockey goalie, so that a player can practice kickinga soccer ball or hitting a puck into a goal while avoiding the goalie.It may be a basketball defender with outstretched arms to providepractice dribbling around and shooting over a defender. A tennis playerfigure may be used to practice hitting a tennis ball within the linesbut away from the figure.

The inflatable batter shown in the drawings may be made by blow moldingindependently inflatable chambers in the shapes of the head portion,upper body part, lower body part, arms and bat, and left and right feet,then welding or gluing the chambers together. A compartment for holdingthe sand or water may be molded and that compartment may be insertedinto the feet. The valves may be welded on to the chambers, so that aircan be pumped or blown in and the chambers sealed to keep the air in.The designs may be printed onto the face and body. Patches 7 and 21 maybe glued or otherwise attached at the positions shown in the drawings.The chambers may be made from a flexible plastic, such as polyethylene,polypropylene, or polyvinyl chloride; polyethylene is preferred. The useof multiple chambers simplifies inflating the figure and locating leaks.

The figure may also be made in other ways. For example, the body portionmay be made with fewer chambers so that there is less welding and fewervalves. However the body portion preferably has at least two chambersand preferably the legs are part of a separate chamber so that they canbe made more rigid by inflating at a higher pressure. Flexible splinesmay also be attached to the legs or the legs may be double seamed toprovide additional support if desired.

To use the inflatable batter of this invention, the head portion and thevarious chambers of the body portion are inflated and sand, water, oranother heavy pourable material is placed inside the feet. The head isattached facing either right or left towards the pitcher. The pitcherthen throws a baseball or softball in front of the batter. Thisacclimates a pitcher towards throwing at a real batter and gives him anopportunity to try various pitches, such as high, low, inside, outside,or curved, that he might be inhibited from trying if he were pitching ata real batter. When finished, the valves can be opened so that thefigure can be deflated and stored.

1. A training aid comprising a figure that comprises (A) an inflatablethree-dimensional headless body having (1) a torso; (2) legs terminatingin feet, where said feet are fillable with a liquid or a solidparticulate material; and (3) arms; (B) an inflatable three-dimensionalhead; and (C) means for removably attaching said head to the top of saidtorso, whereby said figure is self-supporting.
 2. A training aidaccording to claim 1 wherein said head is attachable to said torso bymeans of a first patch fixed to the base of said head and a second patchfixed to the top of said torso, where one patch comprises a multiplicityof exposed hooks and the other patch comprises an exposed fabric towhich said hooks attach.
 3. A training aid according to claim 1 whereinsaid head can be attached turned in any direction relative to saidtorso.
 4. A training aid according to claim 1 wherein said torso has atleast two chambers that are independently inflatable.
 5. A training aidaccording to claim 1 wherein said legs are part of an independentlyinflatable chamber.
 6. A training aid according to claim 1 wherein saidfeet are filled with sand.
 7. A training aid according to claim 1wherein said feet are filled with water.
 8. A training aid according toclaim 1 wherein said figure is about 5½ to about 6½ feet high.
 9. Atraining aid according to claim 1 wherein said figure is about 4 toabout 5 feet high.
 10. A training aid according to claim 1 wherein saidhead has a face printed thereon.
 11. A training aid according to claim 1wherein said body has a uniform printed thereon.
 12. A training aidaccording to claim 1 wherein said figure is made of flexible plasticsheeting.
 13. A training aid according to claim 12 wherein said plasticsheeting is polyethylene.
 14. A training aid according to claim 1wherein the bottom of said feet is flat, whereby said training aidcannot be rocked back and forth.
 15. A training aid according to claim 1wherein said figure is holding a bat.
 16. A training aid according toclaim 1 wherein said figure is wearing a cap on said head.
 17. Abaseball or softball training aid comprising a figure of a baseball orsoftball batter that comprises (A) an inflatable three-dimensionalheadless body having a uniform printed thereon, which comprises (1) atorso; (2) legs terminating in feet, where said feet are fillable with aliquid or a solid particulate material; and (3) arms holding a bat; (B)an inflatable three-dimensional head having a face printed thereon; and(C) means for removably attaching said head to said body, whereby saidfigure is self-supporting.
 18. A baseball or softball training aidaccording to claim 1 wherein said body comprises at least twoindependently inflatable chambers.
 19. A baseball or softball trainingaid according to claim 17 wherein said legs are part of an independentlyinflatable chamber.
 20. A baseball or softball training aid comprising afigure of a baseball or softball batter that comprises (A) an inflatablethree-dimensional headless body having a uniform printed thereon, saidbody comprising (1) an independently inflatable upper body; (2) anindependently inflatable lower body that includes two legs; (3) twoindependently inflatable feet, one at the end of each of said legs,where each foot is fillable with water or sand; and (4) an independentlyinflatable pair of arms holding a bat; (B) an inflatablethree-dimensional head having a face printed thereon; and (C) a patch offabric and a patch of small, exposed hooks attachable to said patch offabric, where one patch is fixed to the top of said inflatable upperbody and the other patch is fixed to the bottom of said head, wherebysaid figure is self-supporting.